MTG Arena data shows red Magic: The Gathering cards seem to be taking an early lead in limited March of the Machine games. Adam Styborski shared an official Wizards of the Coast article on April 18 detailing the best cards and decks from early access events on Magic Arena. And while it’s still very early days yet, red does seem to have an edge.
Red decks had the highest win rate in sealed games, as well as the second-highest win rate in premier drafts. Additionally, four out of five of the most-played uncommons use red mana. Things are a bit more spread out when it comes to rares and mythic rares, but there’s still at least one red MTG card in the top five for both categories.
There are more red Magic cards in the top-played lists than any other colour. These include:
- Disciples of the Inferno
- Stoke the Flames
- Invasion of Ergamon
- Khenra Spellspear
- Nahiri’s Warcrafting
- Invasion of Tarkir
White comes second place in terms of most cards in the list (nice to see you again, Elesh Norn), then green, and then black. Despite Ragavan’s preemptive Historic ban, it seems red is getting on just fine without him.
There’s no need to panic if you’re not a mono-red lover, though. Red may be winning the popularity contest, but its lead is slight. Red beat white as the most-played colour in sealed by 2.1% (51.5% to 49.4%). After that, the gaps between MTG colors closes further: green was third at 49.1%, black was next with 48.7%, and blue came last with 48.2%.
The MTG draft results tell a different story for blue, however. Blue was the most-played colour in premier drafts at 52.3%, with red coming second at 51.4%. Black was third, then green, then white – with only a few percent or two difference between each.
Syborski also shares the top five common cards chosen for each colour. Volcanic Spite and Shatter the Source were popular red instant choices (and data shows the former might be one of the best cards in the whole set, full stop). Meanwhile Ral’s Reinforcements ended up being the most popular red sorcery around. Thrashing Frontliner and Pyretic Prankster were top for red creatures – the latter of which is one of the MTG set’s new transforming cards.
You can find the top performers in other colours in Syborski’s full article.
The March of the Machine release date is fast approaching, but if you want to look even further ahead, here’s the full MTG 2023 release schedule. We’ll keep you updated on MTG Arena codes and MTG Arena decks as the new set makes its full debut.